Artist Feature:
Q & A: Louise Potiki Bryant & Paerau Corneal
Louise Potiki Bryant is an award-winning Māori choreographer, dancer, and video artist. Her iwi are Kāi Tahu, Kāti Mamoe, and Waitaha. With her artistic practice Louise aims to honour her whakapapa (genealogy) and relationship to the whenua (land). Her practice is also informed by kaupapa Māori (Māori principles and practices), mana wahine (the intrinsic spiritual power of women), and ātua Māori (Māori deities/ancestors). In 2019, Louise was awarded an Arts Foundation Laureate for her work as a choreographer and dancer. Louise has choreographed for companies such as Atamira Dance Company, Black Grace Dance Company, The New Zealand Dance Company and Ōrotokare, Art, Story, Motion. Louise leads Whakaahua Dance workshops nationally and internationally. Louise has a Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts with a major in contemporary dance and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Māori Studies. www.vimeo.com/louisepotikibryant.com
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A foundation member of Nga Kaihanga Uku, a national Māori Clayworkers Collective, Paerau Corneal’s work is represented in national and international collections. Nga Kaihanga Uku a Maori is a national Māori clay workers group that perceives the absence of formal clay training as an advantage in developing distinctly Māori contemporary work. The ongoing theme in Paerau’s work is the status of Māori women, portrayed as strong, enduring and as diverse as the carved female forms within the whare whakairo (carved house). She incorporates a variety of hand-building techniques to create her figurative forms, utilising her weaving skills by including muka and raranga into her vessel forms. Her work has been in a number of public gallery shows since 1991. Paerau is a member of the Kauwae Collective and has participated in indigenous collaborations with Pacific and Northwest Pacific Coast artists. Ongoing themes involve “te uha”, the female element; mana wahine and images beyond the narrow definitions of the ‘puhi complex’. Her formal qualifications include Masters Māori Visual Arts, Massey University (2009), Museum Studies: Taonga Tuku Iho (2003) Diploma Craft Design Maori Waiariki Polytechnic, Rotorua (1986-1990).
What are the points of interest that drive your creative practices?
Louise: With my dance and video practices I’m guided by kaupapa Māori (Māori principles and practices), and mana wahine (the intrinsic spiritual power of women). I also aim to honour my whakapapa (genealogy) and our relationship to the whenua (land).
Paerau: Connection to culture is important to my creativity and wellbeing in the mainstream space. Many of my ceramic sculptures pose mana wahine/authority/prestige as commonplace, as intrinsic and achievable in the everyday. A member of Ngā Kaihanga Uku a national Maori ceramics collective, our guiding principles are whakapapa,
knowledge sharing and indigenous cultural exchange.
What inspired you to create KIRI, the piece you are bringing to Matriarchs Uprising?
Paerau and Louise:
Paerau and I were inspired by each others practices and were interested in exploring the meeting points between her clay art practice and my dance practice. Paerau and I both make works which express mana wahine (the intrinsic spiritual power of women) so our vision is very complementary. Our early explorations for KIRI were also guided by our interest in how the application of clay on my skin would initiate movement in my body. Our process is informed by the whakapapa (genealogy) of clay and the creation of Hine-ahu-one (the first woman made from earth) in our creation traditions.
How did you meet? Tell us a bit about your collaborative process.
Paerau and Louise:
Paerau and I met during the 11th Festival of the Pacific Arts Festival held in Solomon Islands in 2012, where we were both delegates representing Aotearoa / New Zealand. Inspired by each other’s work at the festival, we began collaborating on KIRI. Our process began by experimenting with the application of different clays on my skin and exploring how my body reacted to the clay. We then explored the process of covering my whole body in clay and how this inspired movement and a manifestation of wairua (spirit) to emerge. Paerau had been interested for some time in the integrity of clay in a pre-ceramic state and it’s validity as a non-ceramic art form to contest the notion of permanency in clay/ceramic practice, so our explorations were a perfect opportunity to experiment with this. We also experimented with capturing video and stills of clay in different states to create a video landscape for the work.
Within our process we acknowledge the whakapapa (genealogy) of clay which informs the overall journey and structure of the work.We were also interested in the consciousness of our skin. The choreography in KIRI is devised using a whakaahua (transformative) dance practice known as Kiri tai / Kiri wai where I explore moving from my skin. Moving from the under-surface of my skin – my Kiri wai – where my skin meets my interior body and also moving from my Kiri tai – where my skin meets the outer world.
What do you want to communicate or offer to audiences through your work?
Paerau:
To consider indigenous customary knowledge in a contemporary context and share a cultural expression of our kinship ties to the environment through whakapapa/genealogy and geology.
Of the many layers of knowledge in KIRI, Matriarchal knowledge underlie the performance; from the creation story of the first woman from clay and her transformations from birth to death to life.
Matriarchy is a stage of life of Mana Wahine, authority and prestige that comes with experience, expertise, knowledge and no doubt with battle scars.
Louise:
The underlying narrative of KIRI tells the story of clay from its geological formation and whakapapa through to contemporary overlaps between dance and clay. With KIRI we explore our awareness of the world through our skin and our our sense of touch. Kiri is the Māori word for skin. Kiri-wai is the term used for the thick layer of living tissue below the epidermis of the skin and Kiri-tai is the outer skin, where the skin meets the outer world. With KIRI, Paerau and I liken the texture of our skin to that of a landscape, the skin being the largest organ of the body and uku (clay) being the skin of our whenua (land) – an indigenous perspective of the body and it’s processes.
Who is an Indigenous role model of yours? How do they inspire you?
Paerau:
As a student Tina Wirihana taught me to weave and instilled in me a love for harakeke – the phormium tenax plant that is highly versatile and a cornerstone of Maori material culture. Tina is a role model for her dedication to excellence and innovations in raranga/weaving of kete/baskets, whariki/mats and muka/fibre for cloak making. Tina works alongside her mum Mate Lawless and as Matriarchs themselves they are renown for their work both at home and internationally.
Louise:
Multi-disciplinary artist Charles Koreneho is a role model to me. From early on in my dance training I followed his work and I have always admired his practice. Another role model is Dr Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal. A practice which I now teach called Whakaahua Dance was developed under his guidance. Whakaahua Dance is a dance and somatic practice which arose out of my collaboration with Dr Royal and is informed by his research into the historical whare tapere (traditional house of entertainment).
Is there a traditional teaching that you most identify with?
Paerau:
Customary whakairo/carving and raranga/weaving influence my practice, from harvesting, preparation and making to the philosophies and religious concepts to reclaim our matriarchal past into the present and to the future. The daily question is how do we conduct our daily lives to assert/maintain/invent/impart the numerous facets of mana wahine.
Louise:
As well as being inspired by mana wahine, I am also very inspired by whakapapa meaning genealogy. However whakapapa also connects us all deeply to Papatūānuku – our mother earth. My iwi (tribal affiliation) is Kāi Tahu whānui, and the kaitiaki (guardian) of Kāi Tahu whakapapa Dr Terry Ryan breaks down the word whakapapa and describes it in this way:
“Whaka is to create, is to become. And Papa what a beautiful word is Papa. Papa is a rock, Papa is a stone, Papa is mother earth. Papa is an anchor within oneself, it all relates.” Dr Terry Ryan
What is coming up next for you?
Louise:
An upcoming project for me is with Atamira Dance Company entitled Atamira Reimagined which is a collaboration between five choreographers who have choreographed works with Atamira Dance Company over the years. Atamira Reimagined will be a celebration of the company turning 20 years old.
Paerau:
Getting into my clay studio.
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Don’t miss the chance to see Louise and Paerau’s collaborative work, KIRI in Matriarchs Uprising: Program 2 on Saturday, February 22nd 730pm at The Cultch. Tickets from $15 — visit thecultch.com
Join these artists for a conversation about their creative practices on Artist Talk with Maori artists, Paerau Corneal and Louise Potiki Bryant Wednesday, February 19th 5:30-6:30pm at Skwachàys Lodge 31 West Pender Street – Free!
Louise will teach Training Society of Vancouver’s Working Class on Friday, February 21st 10am-11:30am at The Dance Centre – $12 drop-in